EL PASO, TEXAS — With first place in Conference USA on the line, UTEP (14-5, 5-1) takes on UAB (18-2, 6-0) on Saturday in Birmingham. The Miners are tied for second place in the league standings, a game back of the front-running Blazers. The game will be televised in El Paso on KVIA ABC-7 beginning at 6 p.m. MT.
The Blazers are ranked 25th in this week’s Associated Press top-25 poll and are receiving votes in the USA Today/ESPN poll. UTEP has lost 13 straight games to AP Top-25 opponents dating back to an 80-61 win over no. 20 Fresno State on Feb. 17, 2001 in El Paso. The Miners are 5-41 all-time on the road versus top-25 teams with their last victory coming at Utah, 90-85 in OT, on March 12,1993.
“It’s a big game because it’s against a team that’s ahead of us in the standings, a team ranked in the top-25 in the nation,” UTEP coach Tony Barbee said. “We’ve played well against top-25 teams, but we haven’t broken that seal.”
The Miners received some good news on Friday when the MRI on Derrick Caracter’s knee turned up negative. He said he is feeling better, albeit nursing some tendonitis, and will play against the Blazers.
After dropping their C-USA road opener to Houston on Jan. 13, UTEP has posted back-to-back victories at Memphis and UCF. The Miners haven’t won three straight conference road games since the 2004-05 season, when they knocked off Rice, San Jose State and Hawaii in order.
UAB and Tulsa are the only C-USA teams still unbeaten at home. The Blazers are 10-0 at Bartow Arena, including 3-0 in league play with wins over East Carolina (76-68), Southern Miss (57-56) and Tulsa (65-55). UAB has had a couple of close calls on its home floor, beating both the Golden Eagles and Middle Tennessee State by one point.
The Blazers have blossomed from a mystery team entering the season to a top-25 squad. Despite losing seven letterwinners and four starters from a year ago — including all-world guard Robert Vaden — UAB enters the matchup with the Miners having won seven consecutive games and 17 of its last 18.
The Blazers seemingly have won every close game this season, posting a 6-0 mark in contests decided by five points or less — including 3-0 in C-USA action.
UAB is winning with defense, holding opponents to 59.2 points per game (tops in C-USA). Junior guard Elijah Millsap, a transfer from Louisiana-Lafayette and the younger brother of Utah Jazz star Paul Millsap, is averaging a team-leading 16.6 points, 9.6 rebounds and 1.9 steals per game. Senior forward Howard Crawford averages 12.3 ppg and junior guard Jamarr Sanders, a Northwest Florida State College import, averages 10.8 ppg.
The series is tied 4-4, although UAB has won three of the last four matchups between the schools. The Blazers are 3-0 all-time versus the Miners in Birmingham, winning 73-64 during the 2006-07 season, 81-73 during the 2007-08 campaign and 78-73 a year ago.
